Life before pharmacare : Accès aux médicaments sur ordonnance : état de la situation : rapport sur les audiences de la Coalition canadienne de la santé relativement au Régime d'assurance-médicaments public et universel

At the top of the list is a call for a universal public drug plan that would be cost-shared by federal and provincial governments and employers, and administered by provinces and territories. [...] As the hearings moved from British Columbia to the Northwest Territories to Newfoundland, Canadians from all walks of life spoke about the impact on their lives of the rising cost of pharmaceuticals. [...] In an example of a patient with congestive heart failure, out-of-pocket costs for a prescription costing $1,283 varied between $74 and $1,332 across the provinces.7 People who came to the hearings spoke passionately about the need for Pharmacare because the prevailing myth of drug coverage for all is not a reality in their lives. [...] And to make matters worse, the Fosamax was that he prescribed her contributed to the development of hiatal hernia because one of her doctors the medication and then, wasn’t aware of its side-effects. [...] By comparison, in Manitoba, only 9% of the population qualifies for the provincial drug plan.18 But what if a person with drug coverage in one province moves to another part of the country to be with family or get a new job?